POSTGAME NOTES: A brutal foul-tip day for Sanchez, even by his standards; A surprise assignment for Morse

Matt Cain’s finger is fine and his stuff is fine, as he showed with a 93 mph fastball that blew away Hanley Ramirez in the third inning. His command was in an out, though, and Cain paid for it in the sixth when he walked Dee Gordon, who promptly stole his third bag of the day. A pop-up single by Yasiel Puig and walk of Ramirez loaded the bases, and the Dodgers would go on to tie the game. Later, they won it.

“I let that inning get away from us,” Cain said. “It ended up being the turning point. You definitely don’t want to lead off with a walk to Gordon.”

The walk hurt. So did a couple of fielding mistakes. Michael Morse was playing deep to Puig and got a late break on the pop-up to left. Hector Sanchez took a couple of foul tips off the mask and neck area and appeared shaky for several minutes after the one off Ramirez’s bat. Sanchez dropped a couple of pitches and also dropped a pop-up back to the screen. He said he wasn’t dazed when he ran back to the screen, but also admitted that his brain felt “it was going everywhere” a couple minutes earlier.

Gordon’s speed had Pablo Sandoval in on the grass in the seventh and it cost the Giants a run. They had Brian Wilson in a jam in the eighth but couldn’t get the big hit.

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“We had them on the ropes several times,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We couldn’t put them away.”

The Giants had won 12 of 15 and seven of their last eight at Dodger Stadium, but they fell to 0-1 without Belt.

— An obvious point here, but Sandoval is going to have to be better with Belt out. On Day 1, he left five runners on base.

— Plenty of jokes are made about Sanchez’s life as a magnet, but today’s turn was a bit of a serious one. The Giants kept checking on Sanchez throughout the late innings and he still looked a little foggy as he talked to reporters. The second foul tip jammed a part of his mask against his cheek and he was headed for Dave Groeschner’s office after the game. Sanchez didn’t think there was anything wrong with his head, though.

“I don’t think it’s a concussion. I remember my name,” he said.

And what is it?

“Gregor Blanco,” he said, smiling. The sense of humor is there, so he’s probably fine.

— Cain said the finger didn’t bother him at all. “He was doing a nice job there for not being out there a couple of weeks,” Bochy said. “He was throwing the ball well. That’s a pretty good effort by Matty, the first time back.”

During his pre-game video introduction on the scoreboard, Vin Scully made mention of Cain’s sandwich stabbing. After explaining the situation, Scully said, “Being the good ballplayer that he is, he caught the knife. Unfortunately it was by the blade.”

— I understand that Puig rubs many the wrong way, and that’s fine. He is a Dodger, after all, and a cocky one at that. But man, I hope most can at least appreciate that he’s never, ever boring. He was diving, sprinting and careening all over the place today, sometimes helping the Dodgers and sometimes not.

He was completely flat-footed on Angel Pagan’s bases-loaded fly ball to right, going against everything you’re taught, and yet he unleashed a rocket home that had even some in the Giants dugout looking at each other and shaking their heads. “Wow,” Scully said. “Everything was wrong about it but the throw.”

— Random note from Giants PR guy Liam Connolly: Pagan had nine putouts in nine innings Friday, coming one shy of the club record for a nine-inning game. The record-holder? Willie Mays, of course.

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— Since we had an almost-challenge in the first inning, a random story: Ron Wotus originally was going to use his hat as an indicator on challenges, but Bochy said it was easier for him to go thumbs up, thumbs down. There’s also a “hell if I know” shoulder shrug, for when it’s inconclusive but maybe worth challenging because of the situation.

— Chris Haft and I were chatting about this after Hunter Pence (the only Giant who hasn’t missed an inning) nearly beat out a routine grounder in the fourth inning of the eighth game of a road trip: Pence’s insane hustle isn’t mentioned enough. So here’s a mention. On days like this, you really notice the whole Full Throttle thing (he later put pressure on Greinke on a grounder back to the mound), even if it doesn’t lead to hits or errors right away. At some point in the season, it does.

— Classic Brian Wilson in that eighth inning. Loads the bases, then goes 95, 96, 96, 96 to Pence. There are some here who think he’ll be the closer when we return in late September. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

— Kind of an odd moment after this one when we asked Morse about being the new first baseman. “Really?” he said, arching his eyebrows. “I guess you know more than me.”

Turns out Bochy had only briefly talked to Morse, telling him to be ready to take grounders when the Giants return to AT&T Park on Monday. Bochy said Morse could play first as soon as Sunday, but he’s also considering giving him a day off. If Morse does start, he’ll have to borrow some equipment. He doesn’t travel with his first base glove and said he would just borrow Buster Posey’s.

“No big deal to me,” Morse said. “You just try not to think about it. You go out and let your talent take over.”

Alex Pavlovic

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— I understand that Puig rubs many the wrong way, and that’s fine. He is
a Dodger, after all, and a cocky one at that. But man, I hope most can
at least appreciate that he’s never, ever boring. He was diving,
sprinting and careening all over the place today, sometimes helping the
Dodgers and sometimes not.

—–

True if you like watching D bags, then he is definitely a must see.

I wouldn’t mind seeing him dislocate his shoulder on one of those dives to be honest. Just being honest.

Now then, most importantly, Sabean better be on the phone finding a solution for Pablo. The Giants are going to start sliding in the division with Belt out.
You can take that to the bank.

And Cain continues to show he is highly overpaid.
Today was a complete mess. Thank God I didn’t have to sit through any of it. smh

Matthew

Way wrong on Cain…five strong and a bad sixth.

Matthew

The frustrating part for me personally on Puig is that I wish he would allow us to consistently appreciate his amazing ability. But, because he is so totally diva/emotional/crazy, he gets so far under my skin, it reminds me how much of a total brat he is.

So, yes, amazing talent. Some plays are incredible. And then he s__ts the bed over and over again.

Michael Scott

If we think he drives other teams crazy, it’s nothing compared to what he does to his teammates. They’ll be doing an intervention before long.

livfree

Wilson the closer? I expect him to be out of baseball. If he doesn’t get a gift strike 3 against Crawford, No telling how many he gives up. But yeah, Pence’s AB was hard to excuse (swing at 2 balls, take 2:strikes, including one not called).

Doughnut

Please let Brian Wilson become closer before the year is over. Kenley Jansen cutters or Brian Wilson 2.85 ERA or wait no, WHIP

Matthew

I don’t wish injury on anyone, believe me…watching Wilson, it looks to me like there is something off, and paired with the violent delivery and unreal effort on every pitch, I’ll be surprised if he makes it through the year.

Doughnut

I wouldn’t be surprised by that at all. He might be pitching thru one right now but is too much of a warrior to say anything about it. He has already had like 18 injuries already so who knows whats going on there. But if he can hit 95 it can’t be that bad

avwh

He’s an injury still waiting to happen, with that violent delivery – or he’s covering up for one now, given the 10+ ERA he entered the game with.

walt kovacs

first start off the dl sans any rehab starts….he did fine

he would be overpaid if he had your job at micky d’s

walt kovacs

when is gordon getting drug tested?

ClutchUp

Dude, he was swinging @ 96mph
Wtf?

DrLefty

I wouldn’t even say he had a bad sixth. The walk to Gordon was bad, but then he induced two straight pop-ups that should have been two outs. Instead, he had the bases loaded. Different inning and maybe different ballgame if those plays are made, but Cain mostly did his job there.

DrLefty

Here’s what I don’t like about Puig: He makes it all about himself. He hits a routine fly ball to center and flips his bat; it makes the national news. He gets robbed of a hit and sulks in the dugout; it makes the MLB “highlights.” (That should have been about Pagan’s good play, not Puig’s hurt feelings.)

Baseball is a team game and he has no respect for that or even his own teammates, let alone his opponents. That’s why I don’t enjoy watching him or find him entertaining. He’s a freakish sideshow, not a baseball player.

Then there’s his polar opposite: Pence. The hustle play I really noticed was on the pop-up double in the first inning today. I couldn’t believe how fast he got to second base, even with Puig’s rocket arm to deal with. Now that’s a team guy who respects the game. I’d take one Pence over ten Puigs.

Matthew

Hey mostly did… True. That walk was enormous. So I should say bad first batter of the sixth. It changed things.

Matthew

Well, now after this tough start, we can see that microscope clearly focused Pablo. Even his backers are willing to admit that time is up. Papa put up stats that was more than alarming… Pitchers are out hitting him. Or at least more RBI.

How can you not feel for the guy? Through all of the criticism from me and so many others, the fact is that he has been key, successful, dominant, he has played with joy, effort, enthusiasm… It seems much of that has disappeared.

The Belt injury has become the defining moment ( months) for him.

Coffee is for closers.

Matthew

There are not enough up arrows available for this post

Dodgerblue

ESPN shoving down our throats the story about Michael Sam. Enough with that gross disgusting filth.

Doughnut

I will probably get ripped for this but Hector needs to catch that ball and Morse probably does too although he didn’t look like he was even near it. What a clusterf.k of an inning. Had the Bums on the ropes and let them off the hook

brandollars

of course a dodger fan would be homophobic!

Matthew

It’s NOT disgusting filth at all.

ESPN IS making too much of it, but that is what they do.

Dodgerblue

Puig respects the game. That is just how they play in Cuba. Who cares about this unwritten rules anyway

Matthew

Michael, I think that some of his teammates are cut from a similar cloth…Hanley is a selfish punk…Kemp seems headed that direction… Ethier? Not sure. They miss Shumaker, Punto, Ellis.

Who is the strong personality that heads up the intervention team? Not Mattingly, as it seems he is unable to command the room.

brandollars

If Puig respected the game, and the Dodgers, and the country for granting him asylum, he wouldn’t be flipping bats and standing up umpires without having even played a full season yet. 136 games and he thinks he’s god’s gift to baseball. Take a step back, Puig. Let your talent shape people’s opinion of you. You don’t see Jose Abreu acting like that

DrLefty

Hector had it in his glove and he needs to catch it. But he did get a foul ball right in the mask only about 3 minutes earlier. As for Morse, he had a bad jump on the ball and he doesn’t have the foot speed to make up for that. We knew having him out there was going to bite us sometimes, and this one was one of those times.

I just feel for Cain because he really had battled, and without those two plays, who knows–maybe he ends up with a W. Amazing that he hasn’t gotten one since last August.

DrLefty

Yes, but if he’d had two outs on those pop-ups and still just Gordon on base, who knows?–maybe he pitches out of it with no damage, just like he did in the first. Ah, well.

Dodgerblue

Is just that the media is obsessed with him. He is a hyperactive kind of player and likes the attention obviously

Matthew

In the voice of James Earl Jones… “Baseball, Ray….”

Michael Scott

Where is this info that says all Cuban players behave like Puig does?

DrLefty

Excuses. There are other Cuban players. They don’t act like him.

totalfan62

We had our shot at Greinke early but couldn’t put him away. Put this one in the rear view & get ready for tomorrow. Kershaw is tough–so is Huddy. A 7-3 record would make this a great road trip.

Matthew

Good thoughts , TF… Sure enough, 7-3 would be awesome. I may be way wrong, but I think we get to him.

pacman68

Who cares about Puig. I wish we had him on the Giants right now cause freaking Pablo is KILLING THIS TEAM. The dude better step it up with Belt gone or we are looking at a fall my friends. Laugh all you want and say that missing Belt is no big deal. But Belt makes everyone around him better. Now with him out of the line up. The line up is easier to pitch around.

Puig is an amazing athlete. The most amazing part is that he has the eye hand coordination to hit major league pitching.

Matthew

Pacman…37 AB’s for Blanco is too soon to call him an utter disaster…hang in there.

pacman68

Matt…I’m going off last year as well. He was horrible.

Matthew

For some reason, I still have hope for him….I thought he was overused last year…I see him as a solid 4 ( he’s not proving me right yet)

pacman68

I hope so. Cause we need him right now. I have no faith in Pablo.

Michael Scott

Huh?

ClutchUp

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the great MOMs that have contributed to our fun here: JD4SF, Lefty, Winebaroness, Dgg, NatesFan Mom, Primetimedonna, NapaCat, ShellFish and any I missed.

Please don’t MISS Kevin Durant’s MVP tribute to his MOM! So very cool!

ClutchUp

We need to hit 3 HR’s tomorrow. He’s hard to beat with singles and doubles IMO.
7-3
6-4
Either way I’m proud!

Michael Scott

No he wasn’t. He had a good OBP and was a brilliant defender. Those are not valuable assets to some.

Michael Scott

Saw it- very moving. They are lucky people to have each other,

Moooooooooose

Should have been bunting anyway.

ClutchUp

@Yogi Barrister, are you still working as a prison guard in NY? I sent you $3 dollars for my Rev Ike prayer cloth but it hasn’t arrived?

*I’m not working for Larry anymore*

Chortle*

Michael Scott

GNight all.
To our dear doomers- wait a few days before declaring the season over.

DrLefty

Thanks, Clutch. Mr. L and Lefty Jr. & I get to have dinner with my mom (and siblings) in Napa. As the years go by, I realize the importance of marking these moments when we can. You never know how many there will be.

Matthew

Good night, Michael…First Place Dreams

DrLefty

Completely agree and so does bWAR: 2.7 for 2013. There are a lot of bigger name outfielders who were not as valuable to their teams last year.

DrLefty

Belt is a big loss and anyone who doesn’t think so is kidding themselves. But the Giants had a series of big losses in 2012 and managed to persevere.

–Freddy Sanchez never played an inning. Theriot and then Scutaro filled the gap.
–Pablo was off to a great start when he had his second hamate injury. Pagan, Blanco, and Arias stepped up, and the Giants made up ground on the Dodgers while he was out.
–Wilson pitched two innings and was out for the year. Casilla and then Romo filled in beautifully.
–Aubrey Huff barely played. Belt got hot the last two months and was a top ten hitter in the NL after the All-Star break.
–Melky was suspended but Buster carried the team and Scutaro was even better than Melky had been.
–Timmy was the Opening Day starter and had an awful year but four other starters won 14 or more games, including even Barry Zito.

I’m curious to see what will happen now with Belt out. There’s a long way to go, twists and turns ahead. Someone (or several someones) that we don’t even know about yet may contribute!

DrLefty

Adam Duvall just hit a 3-run homer to tie the game in the 8th for Fresno. He’s now up to 12 HRs & 36 RBIs on the season. Keep an eye on this one; he’s red-hot and could be a piece of the puzzle before this is all said and done. We seem to find ourselves in need of a corner infielder who can hit.

Matthew

It’s gonna be a Giants Pink-Bat-athon….

Moooooooooose

Those are Brett Pill numbers!!!

Moooooooooose

I missed the game today, I see that for the third time in this road trip, the Giants gave the game away. According to many of the “contributors” on the GE board, they should be 9-0 on this trip.

Doughnut

Morse’s quote doesn’t give me much confidence. Playing first and infield (or any position) requires work, practice, and lots of repetition. If he is going to be the everyday 1b guy then he is going to have to work at it or the mistakes are going to come during the games rather then practice. I hope he is up for it. I am not convinced yet

ClutchUp

Either way it won’t be Morse’s fault. Taking 100 fungoes only equals ONE live ball. Plus 2Hole and Mas think Belt isn’t very good. 2Hole says Ishi is way better…

Foothills Ryan

Things could get scary. That pop fly to left was ominous. And his bat may cool off. There’s a couple of guys that need to get it going this week. I won’t name names.

Doughnut

Its not about fault. its about winning. Practice helps, the more the better. When was the last time he took infield?

ClutchUp

Didn’t you hear? No opponent showed up. The Giants scrimmaged themselves but still lost!

Matthew

Specifically to Alex:

Counter to Puig’s style is Mike Trout. In this week’s SI is the following quote, which for so many fans points to exactly why we/they do not like Puig’s act:

“I’m always positive. That’s the biggest thing that’s helped me my whole career. No negatives. Guys that are throwing their helmet or disrespecting the game, that’s not for me. I think that’s where all my success comes from: always staying humble. If you get four hits and two home runs or whatever, you’re not in there bragging. You just come in and do your job.”

This has nothing to do with country of origin, or age. It has to do with maturity. As many players in this league have proven, immaturity has no borders. It is clear, however, that young Mike Trout, has a very healthy dose of perspective, respect for the game and his competition

ClutchUp

Believe you me!

Foothills Ryan

Just about. When Pill was repeating AAA at one year over Duvall’s present age, he had similar production.

Foothills Ryan

Not all of the players that roll out of God’s baseball player factory are perfect.

ClutchUp

Come live in the Castro
You’d be fresh meat

Matthew

Mr. Contrarian is here!

I prefer Trout’s style…and no one is perfect. Not even Trout.

Foothills Ryan

Time to pad the HR stats at high elevation. His strike out rates have been very acceptable. The walk rates also.

September in May: Here’s what I’d do: Call up Susac, Panik, and Duvall, lose Perez, Colvin, and Adrianza. I know, I know, just saying, the bench needs an upgrade. Right now Bochy has a lot of ham and no eggs.
Leave Morse alone in LF, I’m guessing the speculation about 1B might have contributed to his defensive lapses today. Posey plays first four days, catches two, with one day off. Sanchez and Duvall or Sandoval play 1B the other three days.
Give Panik a shot at starting at 2B.
Pagan CF
Pence RF
Posey 1B
Morse LF
Duvall 3B
Sanchez C
Crawford SS
Panik 2B
Bench: Blanco, Susac, Sandoval, Hicks, Arias

YogiBarrister

Trout’s style is better than Puig’s or Pagan’s for that matter. He’s also a better player than them, but he doesn’t have Puig’s arm.
Puig’s mental health issues will likely shorten his career, but right now he’s the best OF in the NL West. He’s entertaining and adds a little spice to the rivalry.
Soup to nuts, the Dodgers are an exciting team and worthy adversary, as are the Rockies. If the Giants win this division it would be quite an accomplishment.

pacman68

Remember the last guy who drove in a 100 Rbi’s in the minors but Sabean said we didn’t need him. 2011 cough cough!! Not saying Pill would have helped that team but sometimes baseball players get on a roll and their swag rocks. You have to ride that.

totalfan62

Gross & disgusting? Prejudice rears its ugly head. Give the young man his props for facing the situation the best way he can. All that matters: can he play football? He’s not the first gay NFL player. Give him a fair shot.

2holehitting

The lineup does not look nearly as good anymore. Just 2 batters to worry about now in Posey and Morse with Pence being 2 for his last 20 and hitting 200 of recent. Big threat drop off with Belt gone(yeah I said that) with the year he had been having. The front and back end through the middle both struggling(Sandoval = HORRID) (Pence = BAD) and the bottom just what they are 200-250 hitters, you now have really the 3/4 holes to work around before the cake walk through the lineup. They need 1 of not both Pence and Sandoval to come alive or they are in for some serious scoring droughts.

2holehitting

Yep Ishi is as good if not better a glove. The stats bear that out.

2holehitting

That is the thump they should of brought up

2holehitting

With his bunting and speed, Blanco should be 2 hole candidate. He should get more fastballs to hit and less curves with Pagan on base. That with consistent playing time should help. He did hit 250 last year which is what Pence is currently doing in the 2Hole.

giantc

Hector should have been out of the game especially if he was still foggy after the game. The Giants you would think would be more careful after Matheny.

winebaroness27

Thank you Clutch !!

Foothills Ryan

Ha ha stylin’, pimpin’, livin’ it up ! Must have been go ahead HR. Bring the boiler back. It was like a counterweight within his elaborate timing mechanism.

Foothills Ryan

I like the bat drop. I won’t be needing this as I round the bases.

ClutchUp

Injuries happen to all teams…

Foothills Ryan

I think you also have a healthy dose of perspective, respect for the game and competition. It is possible some may have unhealthy disdain for players they don’t like.

ClutchUp

There was one so called defensive lapse. The ball was hit in no mans land. He knew Friday that he would play first base today or the homestand…

Foothills Ryan

September in May? Whoa. Winter is coming sooner than I imagined.

Foothills Ryan

we could start a pool – which significant Dodger will be the next to go on the DL? Hanley? Puig? Kemp? Ryu is already there and we know about Kershaw.

ClutchUp

Puigs not THE best. One doesn’t bestow a blog award like the best to a one and a half yr player. Being the best has to include the mental side and base running skills. On May 11th that is a hollow award.

Matthew

So, it took Posey about 2 weeks to get from .220 to .300. I expect Pence will do the same soon. Crawford is more of a .270 , though such averages mean little.

Losing Belt is a big deal, but as CU says, they happen. Though it changes the lineup, it doesn’t have to kill it if someone steps up.

ClutchUp

But in reality, eye test, once again you are incorrect…. again

Foothills Ryan

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there – your middle name is “self-sacrifice”- you’d lay down a bunt when you’ve got numbers against the pitcher – and you never let anyone dirty get through. This one goes out to all the moms. Enjoy!

Miami Dolphins knucklehead of the month award goes to Mike Pouncey after his latest hazing tweet.
1A award to Dolphins Don Jones over Michael Sam tweet.
*Neither will be around long*

DrLefty

Well, they could be. That game was winnable. They had a 2-0 lead going into the sixth and had numerous opportunities to score more before and after that. The other two losses were one-run losses, which by definition (in my book) are always winnable. (What’s “not winnable”? Maybe getting down by a crooked number to a really great pitcher? Every game is technically “winnable” until the last out; it’s a matter of degree, though.)

However, you can play that game the opposite way–there were tight games in Atlanta and LA they easily could have lost, but didn’t, and that epic 11-10 game in Pittsburgh they probably SHOULD have lost, but didn’t. So overall, it evened out.

Duvall is not repeating AAA, so he doesn’t have Pill’s AAA track record yet. Who knows if his game will play in the bigs?

VGF posted a video last year where Steve Decker was talking about various minor league prospects. Of Duvall, who was with Richmond at the time, he said that he thought the power would play at AT & T Park. But you don’t really know until you know.

One thing that won’t work is bringing up a red-hot minor leaguer for his first major league experience and gluing his rear end to the bench while he cools off.

Foothills Ryan

Some minor league notes from yesterday:

Augusta: nothing to see here. They got their bats stuffed where the sun don’t shine and only had 3 hits. Apparently the opposing pitcher, Frank Lopez, was good; striking out 8. Big Dan Slania coughed up 3 runs for the Jack Nicklaus Jacket Wearing Team.

Of relevance: Tyler Horan had one of the hits. Batting .321, he could be a stud. But the 26.8 K% is a red flag. BB% is at 7.3% and ISO is .196. More contact and patience would help his cause.

For the youngsters Jones and Arroyo: they have K rates of 29 and 17.6 % respectively. Also, respectively, 6.1 & 3.2 BB% , .058, .068 ISO. So, both are very young and it shows, but give Arroyo credit for putting ball in play.

—

San Jose: On the short end of a 5-4 game, Kendry Flores threw 6.2 innings and K’d 6 while yielding 8 hits, 3 walks, and 4 earned runs. So, so-so. Blake Miller with a hit and a walk; batting .299. Shawn Payne was 2-5 and is batting .308. Payne has kicked in around between SJ and Augusta for a few years. Mitch Delfino has some outstanding numbers (could draw more walks though): 11.3 K%, 4.7 BB%, .170 ISO. Blake Miller with 20.5, 5.3 and .197 for same rates. Galindo: 15.7, 4.6, & .138 for same respective rates.

Not many walkers in the low levels of Giant system

—

Richmond got rained out – will report rates of interest at later date.

–

And dang, the Grizzlies lost. Heath Hembree picked up the loss and probably had some head shaking about pitching at Reno. It was a bullpen game. Erik Cordier had a clean frame, striking out two. His walk rates are becoming respectable and has lots of Ks as a result of his upper 90′s gas : K%=38.2.

Adam Duvall doubled and homered, and K’d twice: 20.6 K%, 8.4 BB%, .300 ISO.
Joe Panik with a triple and a walk: 10.1 K%, 9.4 BB% and .086 ISO ( his isolated power has been on the rise ). Gary Brown was 1-5 with 2 Ks. He’s cooled off considerably and has following rates: 17.5 K%, 8.4 BB%, and .122 ISO (he’s doing better than last year).

This has been your minor league report. I was sent in as a surrogate band. I’ll be on my way now. Thank you and good night.

Foothills Ryan

stomach alien? LOL. Vinny? say it ain’t so.

Foothills Ryan

Encore: Adam Duvall was playing 1B. So maybe somebody should beg somebody important to ask the question: are they giving up on Adam Duvall at third base?

Foothills Ryan

“Duvall is not repeating AAA, so he doesn’t have Pill’s AAA track record yet”

???

Duvall is only 150+ PAs into AAA. A step per year. Will he start next year in AAA. Probably. Will he have a position to play in the field? Doesn’t seem so.

Matthew

Yup, the Dodgers are a very talented team. I honestly wonder if they are wound too tight, and if that will affect them. They overcame it last season, which was a different team.

The Giants and Rockies are the quiet competition. The rosters and rotations may not measure up on paper… But, you know the saying.

I personally think Trout is the best young player in the league. I see Puig as the most interestingly entertaining. He is the powder keg of all powder kegs. Mattingly has no idea what to do next.

The Oracle

You don’t what you got ’til it’s gone, they paved paradise, put up a parking lot.

It’s no man’s if you got a late jump and are slower than molasses in January. And an outfielder with any speed would have caught Puig’s ground rule double in the 7th. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Mike’s fault, it’s DNA

He’s hitting .336 with 7 HRs and 25 RBIs. He’s 13th in avg. and in their top 10 for the other two categories.

Michael Scott

And Mike is 4 for his last 24. Pagan 5 for 24.

Sidewinder

Thank you to Vegas Giants Fan and yourself for keeping fans abreast of some of the minor league performances. Good work.

Michael Scott

His defense is shaky at best at 3rd base. How shaky? Abreu has played 17 games at third. Including last night.

Michael Scott

And that means what? It’s a serious question.

ClutchUp

Really?
The Dolphins deactivated both accounts?
HehHehHeh

Michael Scott

This is 21st century America, bro. Homophobes rule in West Virginia hollers.

The Oracle

I think it means he’d still be Brett Pill in the US. There are a few other guys who are doing well in Korea after having done very little in MLB.

Michael Scott

It definitely was a Puig level bat flip. But I don’t see any big deal about bat flips.

BALDHEADSLIK1

I appreciate people like u,thanks.

BALDHEADSLIK1

If I were rich I’d stay in the house 25 hrs a day 8 days a week!

2holehitting

or ask if they are craming him into first for a week before bringing up

2holehitting

something to be said about consistent playing time against those that are not 18-20 year olds being groomed or 27-30 year old never beens.

ClutchUp

When the ten game road trip started, many here chimed in on their fears and hopes and what would be acceptable. 6-4 and 7-3 was really on nobodys various posts SO please don’t go off the rails today, like some did yesterday about Cain and Bochy.

Cain had a bad walk by his admission and then induced guys to have bad swings but one fell fair and one ‘dropped’ foul.

Good luck either way today.
MoMs Rule the Day!

Michael Scott

Happy Mother’s Day with a caveat- it’s the worst day of the year for restaurants, In Napa the daughters were 75. 200 people came in, 197 went out. Picky, picky, picky rules on Mother’s Day. I love my Mom 364 days of the year, On Mother’s Day I just like her a bit.

2holehitting

I think most were thinking 3 and 7 or 4 and 6

BALDHEADSLIK1

Quite often in championship seasons teams have to overcome issues, this is just a little hump in the road that’s all it is. Stay positive.

BALDHEADSLIK1

Well I did hear that this might be an El Nino summer.

Public_Service_forthe_Ignorati

I noticed a game or two ago that Pagan was dragging his bat through the zone, sure sign that his mechanics are off.

Foothills Ryan

Good stuff.

BALDHEADSLIK1

I love bum but if the bat toss bothers u don’t let him hit it out, that’s all I’m sayin.

YogiBarrister

“I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.”

Foothills Ryan

some sine curve behavior. heading towards a trough. great start though. could probably use some rest. it all starts with the legs.

i think morse is in same boat. you can almost predictably see these guys transition from hot to cold. hopefully not too cool and for not too long.

what’s the line on today’s game? I would pay 20 or so bucks for a giants win today. maybe I can win 15.

Dodgers need it more than the Giants. But maybe Hudson can throw a shutout, and the Giants can squeeze out a run. The next 10 game stretch is no cakewalk. Five wins is in play.

channelclemente

I do, and he embarrasses himself and diminishes the game every time he does it.

DrLefty

It was just a clarification. You compared Pill to Duvall and mentioned that Pill had been “repeating AAA.” I was just observing that Duvall is new to the level, so the situation isn’t the same.

I have no idea how Duvall is regarded as a prospect by the organization relative to how Pill was regarded. As to Pill, the answer always seemed to be “Not much.” They took forever to bring Pill up even when he was killing it in Fresno in 2011 and the Giants were dying for offense. Pill was DFA’d several times off the 40-man roster, too.

As for Duvall, they added him to the 40 this winter, so I guess they like him better than, say, Chris Dominguez, who’s a couple years older.

Foothills Ryan

i agree. with Belt out, it’s probably realistic to hope for .500 ball. Significant changes to dynamics on offense and defense.

Michael Scott

Ishi is a very good first baseman. There *might* have been a drop off, but by both the eye test or the numbers, Travis was at least Belt’s equal. It’s the offense where we’d suffer.
In my opinion ( defensively, on the “eye test”)

DrLefty

Thanks! Mr. L is making breakfast, and then we’re going to dinner with my mom (and our daughter) later.

Yes, Chris D. has played some first, too, but he’s also been out with injuries a bit this year. They put him in the OF sometimes, too; as far as I know, Duvall hasn’t played OF. They seem to be a bit short-handed both in OF and at 1B. Even catcher Tyler LaTorre has played some 1B for the Grizzlies.

Public_Service_forthe_Ignorati

Yep. The season could slip away right here, or someone (or two) could step up. We’ll see.

Foothills Ryan

only slips away if the Dodgers go on an explosive run – which actually seems quite possible. What if Matt Kemp gets his swing back?

Same for Sandoval, but this one seems to be slipping away.

Foothills Ryan

Giants are going to sell Duvall as a power first baseman. It’s underway.

Public_Service_forthe_Ignorati

I don’t like the Giants chances if they have to overtake a couple of trams down the stretch. Too many holes in the rotation.

Noshame09

That’s pretty good, I’m def stealing and using that for guilt. Here’s to the moms!

DrLefty

We’ll see, I guess. We’re just at the beginning of the Beltless Era. Could be some mixing and matching, just like when Pablo went down a couple years ago. I remember a few painful games of Conor Gillaspie at 3B before Arias took over there…same with the 2B thing–we had Burriss, Culberson…

Foothills Ryan

Jeff Samardzija is going to cost a boat load of the finest prospects an organization can boast. The price may become prohibitive.

channelclemente

Remember during your cogitation than this team is a SLG% construct where Belt and Morse are putting about one in four flyballs over the fence. By a back of the envelope’ish calculation from the wRC, the top six hitters have ~20 runs each created, and with 10 runs = a win, they, as individuals by that metric are worth 10 or so wins+. Belts value to a win would seem to be disproportionately large, IMO.

walt kovacs

alex,

wilson aint gonna make it to september

you heard it here first

walt kovacs

i was thinking 4-6

didnt expect sweep in atl

they havent won a series in pitt for 3 years

and losing 3 of 4 in bumville was a real possibility

walt kovacs

true….but their pitchers do throw a ton of nasty breaking stuff

channelclemente

Pill hit the AA breaking stuff. Korean baseball is AA+ ball.

ClutchUp

Actually, MANY pundits and bloggers have stated that. Word gets to Bangkok slowly?

Public_Service_forthe_Ignorati

Sure. Could bolster that rotation, but I have to question the ability to get consistent quality starts from 3 of the 5 starters (Cain, Timmy, and Vogey). Crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best from here.

channelclemente

From the warmup exercises, and state of the musculature on Wilson’s forearm, I’d say he’s got elbow discomfort now. If that pure guess is accurate, he may be headed for TJ III by year end. I hope not, but at 96 MPH, he’s courting disaster, IMO.

giantc

Hudson is going need to throw a shutout today for a win with the lineup being rolled out. Of course the regulars never hit Kershaw so maybe the AAA hitters can. Good trip either way. Could have been great if they did not get greedy yesterday with Cain.

Bochy’s biggest fault as a Manager is his obsession over lefties can not hit lefties, Crawford is killing lefties this year,but Bochy thinks that Kershaw owns him,so he gets day off.

Doughnut

Also worried about Hector’s D if he starts to play more both behind the plate and if he were to get time at first . Having no depth kind of sucks. Everything gets weakened just a little bit more. Tough to expect to make the entire season without serious injury.
Bochy is the right manager for the job, I am sure he will work something out, but this weakens the lineup and defense pretty considerably in one swoop. Pence and Pablo need to step up and maybe get something out of Colvin. Lineup is not as imposing as before.

ClutchUp

Having depth is subjective. Arias hasn’t done a thing but in 2012 he was irreplacable. 12+13=25 man roster. Out of the 13, 8 start a game. That leaves 5, but in many ways its 4 because one is ALWAYS ones backup catcher. Out of the 4 left – one needs to have some luck and MUCH fortitude.

*People need to tell themselves that Spring Training is USELESS in planning or predicting how players xyz will do when the Regular season begins … then plays out.

ClutchUp

JoBu adores ‘HeyZeus’

channelclemente

To my eye, that foul ball that sent Sanchez to la-la land was weird. It was to what is called, I think, the left occipital region of the skull, rear, behind ear. Blows to that region of the head have classic effects.

“A blow to the occipital lobe, which is in charge of detecting movement, light, colors…things like that. So vision might blackout for a while, and she might have some trouble seeing or tracking things with the eyes or even detecting what exactly one is seeing”

channelclemente

Even with an ERA of 0.68, Kershaws LH, RH splits are interesting. LHB are being eaten alive, hitting 0.188 with a BABIP of .250, but RHB are hitting a respectable .289 with a BABIP of .423. Maybe Bochy is a ‘stats’ guy at some level.

Its pretty clear that Kershaw is murder on LHB. This is the perfect day to give Craw a rest. SS is a grueling position and he is going to need to be in the lineup almost everyday.
RHB is the way to go vs. Kershaw. If nothing else it puts pressure on him to be a little more perfect when a RHB can turn on one. A guy like Hicks could run into one and Kershaw, smart as he is, knows it. A LHB is a threat to get a single through the infield, a RHB can knock one out. Probably neither will happen because Kershaw is damn good at his craft but I like the lineup. Put some pressure on him if nothing else. Perez or Hicks may find a nut

channelclemente

You know who just wore Kershaw out, Chris Stewart. Go figure. He hit .500 against him. Also Kershaw has never faced Hicks or Adrianza. Maybe an ambush is possible

Moooooooooose

And Bob Eucker did all right against Sandy Koufax! As Yogi Berra once said, “You know, you never know.”